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[R.I.P.] ‘Tales from the Hood’ Star Clarence Williams III Has Passed Away
We’ve learned the sad news today that actor Clarence Williams III, best known to horror fans for his role in Tales from the Hood, has passed away this week at the age of 81.
“Williams died in Los Angeles on Friday of colon cancer,” reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Clarence Williams III of course played the funeral director Mr. Simms in 1995 horror anthology Tales from the Hood, who memorably served as the host of the four terror tales. In the final moments of the movie, it’s revealed that the three characters at the center of the film are actually dead, and Mr. Simms isn’t quite a funeral director but rather Satan himself.
“Welcome to Hell, motherfuckers!” Mr. Simms screams, with Williams delivering the line like only Williams could have. You can relive those final moments from the 1995 movie below.
Horror fans may also remember Clarence Williams III from Maniac Cop 2, “Twin Peaks,” and the Maniac at Large episode of “Tales from the Crypt.” Outside the horror genre, Williams played Linc Hayes on the TV series “Mod Squad,” also appearing in Purple Rain, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Sugar Hill, Half Baked, Life, The General’s Daughter, Reindeer Games, and The Butler.
The final acting role from Clarence Williams III came in 2018 horror movie American Nightmares, an anthology directed by Tales from the Hood duo Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott.
THR notes, “[Williams] is survived by his sister Sondra Pugh, daughter Jamey Phillips, niece Suyin Shaw, grandnephews Elliot Shaw and Ese Shaw, and grandniece Azaria Verdin.”
We have learned the sad news this week that prolific horror author Ray Garton, who wrote nearly 70 books over the course of his career, has passed away after a battle with lung cancer.
Ray Garton was 61 years old.
Stephen King tweets, “I’m hearing that Ray Garton, horror novelist and friend, died yesterday. This is sad news, and a loss to those who enjoyed his amusing, often surreal, posts on Twitter.”
Ray Garton’s novels include Seductions, Darklings, Live Girls, Night Life, and Crucifax in the 1980s, followed in later decades by output including A Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, Trade Secrets, The New Neighbor, Lot Lizards, Dark Channel, Shackled, The Girl in the Basement, The Loveliest Dead, Ravenous, Bestial, and most recently, Trailer Park Noir.
Garton also wrote young adult novels under the name Joseph Locke, including the novelizations for A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master and The Dream Child. He also wrote the novelizations for Tobe Hooper’s Invaders from Mars and Warlock, as well as several books for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises.
Other young adult horror novels you may remember the name Joseph Locke from include Petrified, Kiss of Death, Game Over, 1-900-Killer, Vengeance, and Kill the Teacher’s Pet.
You can browse Ray Garton’s full bibliography over on his official website.
He wrote on his website when it launched, “Since I was eight years old, all I’ve wanted to be was a writer, and since 1984, I have been fortunate enough to spend my life writing full time. I’ve written over 60 books—novels and novellas in the horror and suspense genres, collections of short stories, movie novelizations, and TV tie-ins—with more in the works.”
“My readers have made it possible for me to indulge my love of writing and I get a tremendous amount of joy out of communicating with them,” Garton added at the time.
Ray Garton is survived by his longtime wife, Dawn.
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